Mass Effect: Sol's Armageddon
by TuscanKB
Summary: What if in 2157 the Alliance didn't discover Citadel Space but that Sol was dying and was going to take Earth with it? How would humanity and the Alliance react, what would they do? This story explores my AU of Mass Effect. Will feature a much later First Contact for humanity but with an intact game timeline. No major changes besides those listed above. Femshep
1. Chapter 1

**Mass Effect: Sol's Armageddon**

 **Disclaimer: Mass Effect is the property of BioWare**

 **Chapter 1:**

It was the beginning of a new age for humanity. Space exploration was beginning again in earnest and already making significant gains with the establishment of Armstrong Outpost on Luna in 2069 and the later founding of Lowell City on Mars by the European Space Agency in 2103.

Future expansion, though costly, continued at a steady pace across the solar system with plans being made for the possible extraction of resources in significant enough amounts to aid Earth in order to decrease future drain on the world's natural resources and assist in decreasing the effects of climate change.

Eventually it was this new goal that finally galvanized the world into the belief that Humanity's future lay in space. A thirst to exploit its vast untapped and infinite resources to aid Earth led to more strides eventually leading to the founding of multiple settlements and scientific outposts across the solar system.

But it was in 2148 that everything changed and Humanities view of space would be forever altered. Explorers on Mars discovered Prothean ruins and eventually a surviving data cache. Revealing the secrets of the Mass Effect and Element Zero the world's 18 most powerful nations drafted the Systems Alliance charter to expand and defend humanity.

Less than a year later in 2149 information from the archive led the Alliance to Charon which was eventually revealed to be a Mass Relay.

Human expansion occurred rapidly and Alliance territory expanded to a dozen new colonies all funneling a wealth of new resources to Earth. It was seemingly the beginning of a new golden age.

But it was not to be; for in 2157 a team of Alliance scientists researching the effects Mass Relay operations had on the solar systems gravitational fields discovered something terrible. The researchers while analyzing the data noticed several anomalies in the sun.

While at the time the sun was experiencing a significant period of solar activity and flares it was deemed to be a, while dangerous phenomenon, one that posed little risk to any current human activity in Sol at the time. But the Alliance researchers realized to their horror that the solar activity was merely a prelude to armageddon.

Somehow the sun's natural process of nuclear fusion was being disrupted and the stars core was beginning to fluctuate causing subtle effects across Sol's gravitational fields. Why it was occurring and how could not be determined.

But what was certain was that within the next decade or two the sun would rapidly expand its outer layers burning Earth in the process and making it impossible for life to exist on the world. And then the young star would explode in a relatively 'weak' supernova destroying Sol and everything in it.

At first the researchers panicked and began arguing amongst themselves. Some argued that it was impossible, but numerous rechecks made said otherwise. In defiance of all understood astrophysical laws the sun was dying.

Others thought that the world should know immediately and made to publicize their findings; but this was soon deemed folly after an intense debate.

What would occur if the world suddenly realized armageddon was at their doorstep, merely a decade or two away? Panic would ensue and mass riots and religious fanaticism would run rampant possibly killing thousands and damaging infrastructure on a global scale while millions would make immediately try to get off world stalling any coordinated evacuation plans.

Eventually though, a collective decision to contact the Alliance directly at the recently inaugurated Arcturus Station was made. Although far from completed, the station was already a center of Alliance governance.

The reason the Alliance was contacted and not the nations of Earth was simple in the Scientists eyes. While a minor political body at the time the Alliance was a singular entity which would allow a much stricter control of information to prevent information leaks, thus leading to the aforementioned chaos. And that chaos could not be allowed before plans were made and enacted.

The Alliance estimated they had about 7-8 years until anyone else began to notice something was wrong. This was primarily because the gravitational fluctuations would only grow to a size large enough for other researchers to notice and pay attention to around this time. But plans were made for premature discovery nevertheless.

The Alliances first act was to slow down its rapid outward expansion. All efforts and resources needed to be focused on developing Humanity's current worlds to prepare for a massive influx of population in the near future.

The rapid expansion was spreading the Alliance thin to begin with and time spent exploring was time not spent harvesting eezo and constructing as many ships as possible to evacuate the billions still on Earth.

Though the Alliances decision was met with outrage by many at first it was quelled by the not insignificant number of worlds already open for colonization, a few even being garden worlds.

And the public's realization of the dangers of rapid expansion soon allowed the Alliance to adopt a slow and steady approach. This let the Alliance open up more Mass Relays to discover more resources and garden worlds for the soon to be displaced human population while ensuring that those worlds could be properly developed and protected.

Meanwhile the construction of Arcturus Station was accelerated and its planned size increased to allow more personnel and colonists to pass through at a more rapid pace.

At the same time on Earth massive media campaigns encouraging colonization and joining the Systems Alliance were launched. These campaigns had an almost immediate effect swelling the Alliances numbers and allowing it to grow its annual budget and increase productivity.

With these steps now taken critical infrastructure began to be moved off Earth and out of Sol or built elsewhere to ensure humanity's industrial base would not be destroyed with Sol.

It was at this point that four years had passed; it was now 2161 and the second stage of the new construction of Arcturus Station was finalized.

Originally planned to be primarily an Alliance fleet base its plans were expanded to be suited not just as a fleet anchorage but as a civilian station as well; capable of holding tens of thousands. And hopefully one day hundreds of thousands while also acting as Humanity's future capital.

For the first time in history as well, a significant portion of the human population no longer lived on Earth. Around the 2100's Earth's population had peaked at around 9 billion and remained relatively consistent until the 2140's when the Mass Effect was discovered.

After over a decade of colonization almost 2 billion people had left Earth for a new home in the stars.

A few million spread out across numerous mining, farming, and resource colonies to feed humanity's ever-expanding needs while a majority concentrated on the few lucrative garden worlds open for colonization. These worlds would one day become the very heart of the Alliance.

It was in 2163 though when the Alliances closely guarded secret about Sol's coming doom came out.

An astrology center in Argentina was taking highly detailed scans of the Sun's photosphere and began noticing multiple oddities. After a week of detailed observance and comparing data from a dozen other telescopes and research centers across the globe they pieced together what was happening.

By the end of the week the entirety of the Union of Incorporated Nations was aware and the Alliance was forced to show its hand.

Though met with fury at first; the necessity for their actions soon became apparent. Faced with the coming doom of humanity's home world there was little room left for political maneuvering or finger pointing.

A significant factor that limited the criticism the Alliance suffered however was due to its growing political power and presence in everyday life. The Alliance was now viewed as less of a minor NATO type organization that answered to individual nation states but as a developing future government for humanity as a whole, although many resented the Alliance for its growing power.

While its presence on Earth was still limited, its increasing number of recruits and large influence over the colonies began to encourage the Alliance to become a true governing force for humanity.

With complete authority over almost all off-Earth military forces and its new emphasis on colonial support and defense many colonists began to see the Alliance as the government they owed their allegiance, not some nation state on Earth.

This however, while seen by some as the natural progression of things, created a divide in the colonies. In the early days of colonization when the Alliance had been far weaker and less influential many nations sponsored their own colonial endeavors to support their homelands.

These colonies were ostensibly filled with the best, brightest, and most loyal and patriotic of citizens. These colonies became a miniature reflection of their national homelands and remained strongly against the growing power of the Alliance.

It was barely a day after the revelation of Sol's coming demise to the UNIN General Assembly when the information somehow made its way to the public. At first most thought it was a hoax until the Alliance felt it unreasonable to wait any longer and confirmed that everything was true.

Global panic ensued and the world was thrown into chaos. Massive riots occurred and religious extremists took the opportunity to say it was the foretold end of days.

Others blamed technology, specifically the mass effect, eezo and the relays.

Although suspicious considering the timing of the discovery of the mass effect and use of the relays was a little over a decade beforehand; no connection between the two events could ever be determined.

The sun's condition was later discovered to have been a process taking centuries which had entered its final stage and apex. Indeed, it was rather famously said by Alliance Prime Minister Jakob Batkowski at the time that, "The relays are not our doom; for they are our species salvation."

The Prime Minister was most likely correct, for if the relays and the mass effect had never been discovered humanity would still be largely confined to Earth and the solar system with no way to escape. No escape would have meant humanity's death in solar fire helpless to flee.

It took the supreme effort of the Alliance and all of humanity's will to get through the next decade.

Immediately after the revelation of Earth's coming demise and restoration of relative order through the global declaration of martial law hundreds of millions made to get off world.

It was then that the Alliances last 6 years of planning and construction paid off.

Calculations put successful evacuation of the entirety of Earth's population of 7 billion within the next decade requiring 2 million people to get off-world each day, an unmeetable quota. Despite all the years of planning and preparation it was likely that hundreds of millions would be unable to be evacuated.

This was a bitter pill to swallow, and truly brought reality crashing down upon those who had deluded themselves into believing that everyone could be saved. No matter how hard or fast they worked it wouldn't make a difference. In the end the law of sacrifice is universal, only great sacrifice can birth great achievement.

However, despite the losses that would inevitably have to be suffered over 90% of the population could successfully be evacuated in time. The evacuation of over 6 billion people in less than a decade would truly be a miraculous achievement.

Thanks in large part to the Alliances preparations and the colonization boom occurring at the time large numbers of civilian transports and colony ships were available to commence the evacuation. By 2168 nearly 3.5 billion people had been moved off world. And although ahead of schedule, this came with a cost.

Under the strain of billions of displaced people even the Alliance's years of planning and preparation were quickly overwhelmed. Massive camps filled with temporary housing grew to the size of small cities and millions suffered stuck in a state of limbo.

The Alliance began to find itself crushed under the weight of such a massive calamity. Even worse was the economic strain that only compounded the Alliances problems. What was foreseen to be an economic depression of unimaginable scale began to develop.

It was only through the hard work and dedication of countless men and women that true collapse was narrowly avoided. But despite the best efforts of these nameless heroes', true economic stability would not reassert itself for decades to come.

In 2171 the sun's increasing instability began to show itself more frequently. Large bursts of solar flares across the system caused moderate damage to more vulnerable civilian electronics and disruption to all communications coming in and out of Sol.

However, these occurrences were trifle compared to the loss suffered during a particularly nasty coronal mass ejection on August 17 of that year.

A large civilian convoy leaving Earth began its slow trek to the extremely long line to use the Charon Relay when they were caught in the massive CME. Their vessels didn't stand a chance and the ejections preceding burst of radiation and magnetic fields severely damaged and disabled every ship in the flotilla.

Unable to escape and rescue ships to far to assist they were blasted in superheated solar plasma. Half the ships were turned to molten slurry while the rest were unrecognizable balls of melted metal dosed in enough radiation to kill anything living.

The poor souls were veritably baked alive inside of the very ships they though would bring them salvation. But rather than save them, the ships became irradiated metal coffins for 49,571 people.

It was this tragedy that pushed the final convoys out of Sol until the Alliance declared the entire system unsafe and implemented a blockade at the Charon Relay.

A few sporadic escorted flotillas made final runs back and forth from Earth, mostly carrying the carefully collected and preserved samples of every known plant and animal species on Earth.

Among these so called green-ships were numerous carrying cultural artifacts and relics as well. Despite this it was estimated that 65% of species on Earth had yet to be discovered and were left behind to their doom.

Doomed with these unknown species was nearly 700 million people who either couldn't be evacuated or refused to leave the planet.

By the very nature of Earth's demographics almost every spaceport furthering the evacuation was located within large cities, but despite this the Alliance made concerted attempts to reach out and evacuate the numerous far flung and isolated communities which still dotted the planet's surface.

However, to the shock of many a multitude of these communities refused to evacuate due to a variety of cultural and religious factors. Due to these settlements distance from established society those who were pariahs, religious fanatics, and distrustful of government congregated to them.

The Alliance was unwilling to leave behind those they could save and with the emergency powers granted to them under martial law they began to forcefully evacuate people whether they wanted to leave or not.

This forceful evacuation was done with the best of intentions, however it only created resentment among those who already carried a strong animosity for the Systems Alliance.

By using powers granted to them under martial law the Alliance inadvertently caused many people to strengthen their convictions and strong anti-Alliance sentiment.

The exact opposite was true from the Alliance perspective. Those who would reject the Alliance's generous attempts to save them were ungrateful fools. The Alliance had gone out of their way and expended vital resources needed elsewhere only to be met with derision and contempt.

And so, it was on November 9th 2172 that the Sun began to rapidly expand consuming Mercury and Venus.

Earth, while too far to be consumed in the sun's corona was blasted in extreme amounts of solar radiation and heat which quickly boiled away the former blue-green world's oceans and biosphere.

The Blue Planet soon looked like a larger version of the now destroyed Mercury, an ignoble fate for the home world of humanity.

After consuming Mercury and Venus and burning Earth to a crisp the Sun began its final stage of life. After burning through its last remains of Hydrogen and Helium only Iron remained.

Iron being too heavy to fuse efficiently caused the Sun's process of fusion to stop. The sudden stoppage of energy generation caused the core to collapse and the outer layers of the Sun fell into the core.

The infalling layers collapsed so fast that they `bounced' off the iron core at close to the speed of light. The rebound caused the star to explode in a supernova.

This by no means was normal when concerning the death of most stars the size of the Sun. And although still an enormous explosion, it was exceedingly small compared to the supernovae of other more massive stars.

This was extremely fortunate for humanity as most supernovae are estimated to be dangerous up to 50 light years away. Considering Arcturus and humanity's new capital were merely 36.66 light years away a supernova of normal size would have been devastating.

Another note however was that that Earth was not the only loss suffered during Sol's demise.

Mars, though much farther than Earth from the Sun was nevertheless destroyed by the supernova. Realizing years beforehand that this was inevitable a large project occurred to try and save as much of the archive and the data contained within as possible.

Often forgotten and overshadowed when compared to the evacuation of Earth such a feat was truly miraculous considering over 95% of the data in the archive was saved.

Colony ships which were diverted from the evacuation were retrofitted in dry dock with thousands of the most advanced supercomputers ever developed by humanity.

These vessels were then linked through an experimental QEC system to the archive which allowed the data to be transferred with a miraculous 100% accuracy and little to no corruption.

These starship supercomputers were then heavily escorted by an Alliance battlegroup through the Charon Relay and into Arcturus where they would later deposit their data in a state-of-the-art facility on one of the many moons of Themis, a large hydrogen-helium gas giant.

The data however still remained untranslated and un-decoded, it merely sat within Alliance computers now instead of Prothean ones.

In fact, the facility while stuffed to the brim with thousands of supercomputers was significantly more massive than the original Prothean Archive on Mars. This showed just how advanced the Protheans were in comparison; the Alliance had a lot of catching up to do.

Work to translate and decode the data was estimated to take many decades if not centuries still however. But no matter how long it took the secrets of the mass effect would be uncovered.

It was now 2173 and Arcturus Stations final phase of construction had been completed. With their center of governance fully operational the Systems Alliance took power under martial law. Declaring itself the sole governing and representative body of the human race it swept away the old nation states of Earth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mass Effect: Sol's Armageddon**

 **Disclaimer: Mass Effect is the property of BioWare**

 **Chapter 2:**

With the Alliance's meteoric rise to power many began to hope that the worst of the calamity had passed. Perhaps mankind could truly be united under a single banner and look to a fresh start away from the ruins of the old world.

Peace began to settle upon human space and the worlds of mankind, but it would be a fleeting peace, for not all greeted the Alliances rise with hope and aspiration.

Many who had once been citizens of proud and powerful nations on Earth chaffed under the widespread and seemingly inescapable pervasive power of the Systems Alliance.

This sentiment was especially widespread in the colonies founded and sponsored by the old nations of Earth. These colonies maintained a semblance of their founding nations original governments and considered themselves legitimate successor states.

Backed with political clout of surviving politicians from Earth and the Union of Incorporated Nations these disparate colonies banded together, united under their common detest for the Alliance.

The Alliance was caught by complete surprise. During the Evacuation of Sol tensions, political animosity, and argument were suppressed and hidden out of necessity. But these ailments had remained simmering under the surface, out of sight, but not out of mind for those who held them.

The Alliance represented a fresh start for an unsure future. Something new was needed to lead humanity out of the devastation it found itself in, but there were those who resisted. In times of crisis people seek out the familiar hoping to find safety and contentment.

They looked to the structure of the past to build the future heedless of the fact that what they were looking for no longer existed, lost in solar fire.

Many sided with these defiant worlds, some out of a sense of loyalty to their former nations, and others to escape the Alliance they thought had failed them. Hundreds of millions remained stuck without consistent work on foreign worlds, and the hope of something familiar were they could find better lives tempted many.

Finding itself in a political crisis as well as an economic and humanitarian one the Alliance pushed itself into overdrive to try and remedy the problems plaguing mankind. The Alliance saw itself as the hope for a new future, but that future would have to be built brick by brick.

By 2178 the Alliance began to find itself at a turning point. With so much needing to be built and millions needing homes and work the economy halted its downward spiral and began a slight tick upwards.

Despite being such a small upward trend, it was a good sign for the future to come.

Competition against the newly declared Union of Interstellar Nations also helped speed an economic recovery, the exact opposite of what many had expected. With a political rival to compare itself to the Alliance worked hard to maintain a lead to prove itself worthy of being humanity's sole governing body.

And despite the assertions of the Union of Interstellar Nations they didn't truly stand as an independent government. Acting more as a political and economic rival the UNIN existed mainly as a form of protest against the Alliance.

In fact, the very name of the Union itself was meant to associate it with Earth's former Union of Incorporated Nations in order to draw recognition and legitimacy.

However, as the years moved on and tensions lessened as the economic situation stabilized the UNIN began to lose importance and political power. The Alliances superior size and rapidly growing economy caused a number of worlds to swallow their pride and abandon the UNIN.

With worlds joining and the UNIN fading as a political rival the Alliance considered its political crisis predominately over and looked to once again begin outward expansion.

But it was not to be, for as the Alliance solidified its control over human space the UNIN was not quite as defunct as thought. Though greatly diminished in size those worlds which remained were ultra-loyalist, determined not to see their cause fade.

Galvanized into action by what they saw as the Alliances expansion into their worlds and threat to their freedom they struck at the very heart of the government they so despised, Arcturus Station.

And so, as the year of 2181 began the Alliance prepared to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding unaware of the storm brewing beneath their very nose.

On November 7th tragedy struck the capital of humanity as UNIN extremists smuggled canisters of deadly nerve gas aboard Arcturus, detonating them near the stations environmental control systems.

The deadly toxin spread rapidly killing thousands before the affected parts of the station were sealed off. Counted among the dead were numerous members of the Alliance Parliament as well as the Prime Minister.

With the Alliance paralyzed and its central government in turmoil the UNIN worlds which remained fully seceded and struck quickly at their foe.

The UNIN knew that their navy and military was far too small to win any conventional war against the Alliance, and so they did not try to fight a conventional war.

The UNIN had few ships or men to spare for an attack on other worlds, so they sought to bury the Alliance under catastrophe after catastrophe and spread chaos to bring about total collapse.

With ships left over from the Evacuation of Sol they detonated their drive cores in the atmospheres of numerous planets, contaminating entire regions with eezo and other toxins.

With the Alliance tied down and slow to react the UNIN committed the meagre forces at their disposal to an assault on those worlds which had abandoned them and joined the Alliance.

The UNIN considered these worlds traitor to their cause and racked them with terrible retribution. Alliance forces in these systems were already on high alert due to the recent attacks and met the initial invasion with determined resistance

But despite their best efforts UNIN forces managed to slip by the main naval engagements and land forces on the planets below. Alliance ground forces dug in deep and drew their enemy into a grueling battle they could ill afford.

The Alliance knew that if they could hold out for even just a few weeks reinforcements would arrive to drive the UNIN from the systems.

As battle was met on a dozen worlds the Alliance began to organize and prepare for a counter attack. But this sudden conflict exposed a hole in the Alliance war machine which could spell disastrous for its ground forces.

During the Evacuation of Sol, the Systems Alliance Navy had understandably received a lion's share of the Alliance Military budget to help assist with the evacuation.

But this left the Army and Marines with old pre-mass effect equipment, and while adequate at the time it had caused the decay of the Alliances combat effectiveness on the ground in the decades following Earth's destruction.

Realizing this fault, the Alliance initiated a crash program to quickly develop new weaponry utilizing eezo and mass effect principles, but it would be many years before this new weaponry would be available.

Regardless of any deficiencies in their ground forces the Alliance was forced to take what it had; luckily the UNIN was also forced to use antiquated equipment left over from the militaries of Earth's various nations.

After weeks of fighting, UNIN forces began to find themselves closing in on victory against the Alliance garrison forces, only to see their hoped victory turn to ash.

The Alliance Navy arrived in force overwhelming their vastly outnumbered enemy. Marine and Army detachments began landings immediately and struck UNIN ground forces from behind.

Finding themselves suddenly on the defensive and surrounded on all sides by advancing Alliance forces the UNIN were quickly overwhelmed. With the Alliance achieving air superiority rapidly any UNIN forces refusing to surrender were pounded into submission.

This loss was calamitous for the UNIN as with the destruction of their only offensive units their morale was completely obliterated. The Alliance had proved itself strong enough to weather the storm and its shaky hold on human space only solidified.

With any sympathy for the UNIN cause gone the Alliance began a push to end the threat. Within weeks any remaining UNIN naval forces had either surrendered or been destroyed, and eventually worlds began to capitulate to the Alliance advance.

Those worlds which did not give in found themselves blockaded and eventually invaded. As the last holdout's fell, so too did the Union of Interstellar Nations. The entire war lasted less than a year and the UNIN was doomed from the outset.

The Union War, as it would later be called, was short and lethal. Many worlds now found themselves with entire cities contaminated with eezo and other toxins. Cleanup projects would last for years and millions were exposed to eezo.

A particularly nasty side effect of this exposure would be the string of children born with birth defects, and stillbirths were a not uncommon side effect either. This tragedy however drew the Alliances attention to the potential of biotics.

Biotics were not unknown to the Alliance and humanity as a whole, but they were extremely rare. During the Evacuation of Sol starship accidents over Earth did occur due to the sheer number of vessels participating in the evacuation. Out of these accidents a handful of children were born with biotic abilities.

The children were studied extensively, however their biotic potential was weak, and other than being a scientific curiosity the Alliance held little interest as more pressing matters occupied their attention.

But by the 2180's and the end of the Union War the underlying science was better understood. With such a dramatic increase in the strength and number of these individuals they began to draw considerable media attention.

Many were fearful and shunned these individuals, while others couldn't care less outside of personal curiosity. The Alliance however saw something no one else did, a potential military advantage.

The very idea of having soldiers capable of manipulating objects and gravity with their minds was an intoxicating idea for many in the military. Programs to develop ways to increase the power of biotic humans began in earnest.

The Alliance experimented with various methods of increasing biotic power and control, the most successful product of these programs though was the creation of the Biotic Amplifier. Called Bio-Amps for short the well-known and respected Sirta Foundation was awarded a contract to produce these revolutionary devices.

As the 2200's rolled around the Alliance provided massive incentives for biotic individuals to join up and many of these gifted individuals found their way into the Alliance Military.

Using advanced surgical procedures developed by Dr. Ellen Ryder L3 implants were embedded at the base of these biotics skulls. The program was an overwhelming success. And despite a few issues and problems the Sirta Foundation's unblemished record of safety and caution proved decisive in protecting the health of the L3's.

New tactics and biotic abilities would have to be developed to truly harness to amazing military potential biotics offered, but the end result would provide the Alliance with a type of soldier never before seen in human history.

Complimenting this new addition to the Systems Alliance Military was new equipment as well. After years of research and development military equipment utilizing element zero became readily available for mass adoption.

From small arms to armor the Alliance began a massive retrofit and modernization program across all branches of service. Large contracts were doled out to corporations like Hahne-Kedar, Aldrin Labs, and the Sirta Foundation to produce the enormous amount of weaponry and equipment needed.

The products of this retrofit and modernization program were numerous and varied, however the most notable were Hahne-Kedar's M-7 Lancer and M-35 Mako along with the Sirta Foundation's Phoenix line of armor.

The Alliance quickly adopted all of these innovations and began replacing its previous equipment, which apart from the Navy had become decades old. With its military better armed, supplied, and more powerful than ever the Alliance looked towards the future confident it could defend itself and humanity.


	3. Chapter 3

**Mass Effect: Sol's Armageddon**

 **Disclaimer: Mass Effect is the property of BioWare**

 **Chapter 3:**

By 2210 the habitable worlds which had been discovered before and during the Evacuation of Sol had all been colonized leaving the Alliance with no choice but to expand and push the frontiers of human space.

With a recent surge in population and millions eager to find a new home away from the increasingly crowded cities of humanity's core worlds colonial expansion became a necessity, and spearheading these efforts was the Alliance Navy.

New relays being activated opened up a wealth of systems for explorers and settlers to prospect. Numerous worlds were colonized rapidly and resource rich systems were marked for future exploitation.

One of the Alliances main reasons for expanding, other than colonizing new worlds, was to secure these resources. Metals such as platinum, iridium, and palladium were exceedingly valuable in an innumerable number of industries, however the most coveted resource was the all-important Element Zero.

This material, despite being so vital in interstellar travel, was exceedingly rare. As a consequence of this rarity the Alliance had discovered only sporadic deposits.

Combined with this tenuous supply and the use of large quantities in ship construction during the Evacuation of Sol the Alliance found itself running out of the very material which had become its lifeblood.

However heavy research of the arcane element revealed an astonishing discovery, eezo is created when solid matter is exposed to the energy of a star going supernova.

At first the Alliance Survey Corps intended to use this knowledge to predict and locate deposits of Element Zero, but something caught the attention of a civilian consultant. Why look for supernovae when one had occurred recently in the Alliances metaphorical backyard?

This revelation came as a shock to the Survey Corps and it's no understatement to say that the entire Corps would never live down this particularly embarrassing incident.

Nevertheless, the Alliance, conscious of its growing eezo shortage pushed ahead and commissioned an expedition beyond the Charon Relay.

Following the Sun's supernova, the entire Sol system had become exceedingly hazardous as deadly X-rays and more energetic gamma-rays filled the area. Additionally, a small nebula had also formed and enveloped the relay due to gas and dust thrown out during the explosion.

All of these factors had made any travel into Sol an impossibility at first, but as the decades passed so too did some of the danger. In 2212, 40 years after the destruction of Earth, humanity returned to the system of their origin.

As ships began to arrive past the Charon Relay and explore further into the system the view was striking. A vibrant orange-red nebula filled with shattered worlds cracked under the power of the cosmos was burned into the eyes of those who saw it.

To those brave explorers Earth's destruction had never been more tangible than when pieces of their home world drifted by them, a mere speck in the endless void.

Many broke down in silent tears, weeping for a world they would never see again. However, there was a job to be done and they pushed on with their mission. Taking scans and samples from across the system the results were better than could ever have been hoped.

Massive deposits of not just Element Zero, but other resources filled the system as a result of the supernova.

It was a dream come true for the Alliance, the amount of eezo alone would supply the Alliance for centuries and give them a veritable monopoly in mining the material. And to top it all off Arcturus Station, the site of the Alliances capital and main shipyards, guarded the Charon Relay.

It seemed ironic to some that the site of humanity's greatest loss could end up being one of its greatest boons. With a steady supply of eezo secured the Alliance continued its expansion unhindered.

World by world, system by system the Alliance expanded its control into every star cluster it discovered, yet throughout this expansion many began asking themselves one of the most enigmatic questions of man, are we alone in the universe?

Upon the discovery of another habitable world, or the activation of a new mass relay humanity wondered if maybe this time they would finally have an answer to that looming question. But eventually even the most optimistic began to wonder if they were truly alone.

However, this all changed in 2220 with the discovery of the Raloi. In September of that year the Alliance Survey Corps dispatched a vessel to an unremarkable system at the very edge of explored space.

This system would have been ignored entirely if it wasn't for the fact that its star was predicted to have a world in its circumstellar habitable zone.

Despite being so far off from main human space new garden worlds were always needed, and so the Alliance dispatched a vessel to explore the system. After arriving in system via FTL the survey vessel immediately noted that the system contained a mass relay.

This discovery alone was enough to make the entire endeavor worthwhile, but something even more astonishing caught the crew of the survey vessel SSV Argo off guard. The second planet from the systems sun was indeed habitable and was giving off radio waves like a beacon to the stars.

The Argo immediately moved to confirm its readings and pulled into orbit around the planet. Soon the crew realized that the world below them was indeed inhabited, and by a pre-mass effect civilization no less.

However, as the Argo continued its scans it was soon revealed that the civilization on the planet below had already taken their first steps towards exploring the galaxy with the launch of their first space telescope.

This space telescope, defying all the odds, caught a glimpse of the Argo. The crew of the Argo were shocked when radio transmissions from the planet began broadcasting to their position and had no idea of what to do.

As a vessel of the Alliance Survey Corps the crew were all well trained on first contact protocols and procedures, but all of their training was designed with the idea that first contact would be made with a fellow space faring civilization.

Unsure of what to do the crew of the Argo eventually decided that they had to return to Alliance space and report their findings. The system they were in was far from the established comm buoy network and they were completely unprepared for first contact of this nature.

It was nearly a week later on December 2nd of 2220 that the Argo returned with an entire Alliance exploration flotilla and diplomat Anita Goyle to make official first contact.

The following months would be a time of substantial changes for both the Alliance and the newly discovered Raloi.

At first the language barrier was a significant impediment, with the two species only way of communication being through the use of binary numbers. Despite this after a few weeks the Alliance eventually produced a workable translation device to the Raloi's great surprise.

With a reliable method of communication obtained the Alliance and Raloi began to learn about one another. Being the ones to formally initiate contact the Alliance took the lead and began explaining humanity and the tragic loss of their home world, as well as the secrets of Element Zero and the mass relays.

The Raloi soon reciprocated and provided an outline of their species, government, and home world.

Inhabiting their world of Turvess the Raloi are an avian species united under a federal monarchy known as the Raloi Federation. This federation started as a single small kingdom which survived by maintaining a policy of neutrality through political marriages with its larger and more powerful neighbors.

As the centuries passed and technology advanced the balance of power began to shift in favor of this small kingdom which adapted these new technologies faster than the other nations surrounding it.

Using its growing influence and relation to the ruling monarchs of its closest neighbors this once weak and vulnerable nation formed a federation with the other kingdom's subordinate to them.

Eventually this federation grew and whether through voluntary membership or conquest the Federation had control of almost the entirety of Turvess by the time of first contact with the Alliance.

This form of government was akin to the old German Confederation of the Rhine on Earth during the 19th century, but was markedly unique to any form of government ever tried by humanity.

Both sides eventually decided that it was time to take the next step in their relations and moved for a face to face meeting. The Raloi proposed their capital city of Cáthor as a sign of trust and hospitality and the Alliance agreed.

But when this momentous occasion came it nearly ended in disaster. This was not due to the work of some rogue element or natural cataclysm, but the flu.

In this case however it was a type of avian influenza indigenous to Turvess which while fairly common and usually non-lethal for the Raloi, proved to be highly virulent and extremely contagious for humans.

The entire Alliance diplomatic party fell deadly ill and were immediately quarantined aboard a vessel in orbit. The Raloi began to panic believing that they had ruined relations with humanity, but they were quickly assured otherwise.

With help from Raloi doctors the Alliance Medical Corps quickly produced a cure for the virus, saving the lives of the diplomatic party. Soon the cure was used to help develop a vaccine which the Alliance provided to the Raloi.

Despite a tempestuous beginning, relations between the Alliance and Raloi continued apace after the resolution of the flu incident.

By 2223 the Alliance had established a permanent embassy in Cáthor and began providing the Raloi with advanced technologies to help them improve their people's quality of life as well as further their scientific knowledge.

The Raloi advanced quickly with the Alliances help and began adopting many human technologies such as medi-gel and advances in computing. With this increase in knowledge came a thirst to explore as well and the Raloi continued their space program with Alliance support.

In 2230 after years of work the Raloi launched their first space worthy vessel capable of FTL. The vessel was extremely basic and its drive core was supplied by the Alliance, but it was progress nonetheless.

To celebrate this achievement the Raloi decided to send their vessel to join an Alliance survey group about to activate their systems mass relay. The Raloi were ready to join humanity in the stars and were eager to explore the galaxy.


End file.
